Naruto: The Balance of Power
by BTSpeakers
Summary: The Sasuke Recovery Team returns a failure. Naruto is put to blame by Sakura and the townspeople. He runs away from Konoha, getting recruited by the Akatsuki. Neither Sasuke or Naruto are seen in the next years, but when Sound and Orochimaru advance towards Konoha, old friends meet again. Slight NaruSaku (A Naruto joins Akatsuki fic)
1. Chapter 1 - Trigger Point

HEY GUYS! I'm starting a new fanfic called Naruto: The Balance of Power

I don't own Naruto!

I've recently started to watch Naruto, and I've been wondering _what if Naruto decided to join Akatsuki out of free will?_ Yea, so this is what this fic gna be about so enjoy!

* * *

A cold wind swept through Konoha, rustling dead leaves that were once idle on the ground. The Hokage looked out her office sighing. It had been quite a while since the Sasuke Recovery Team had gone, and no communication had come through. She had sent the three Sand siblings to help them, so hopefully that was enough to bring Sasuke back. In times like these, a village needed good shinobis. Sasuke was definitely a very important asset in the coming war that was brewing slowly.

"Jiraiya. Do you think they can get Sasuke back?" She turned her head to speak to the old pervy man sitting on her couch. He looked quite serious as he pondered the question.

"You see, Tsunade, our dear friend Orochimaru, put that Cursed Seal on him to tempt him with more power. And if I've ever seen anyone hell bent on revenge, it's Sasuke. He witnessed that Uchiha clan massacre so young, it definitely left some scars. So, I'm guessing that he.." Suddenly the bells around the city started going off and a panting ANBU ran in.

"Hokage-sama! The recovery team is approaching the gates!" Tsunade's eyes widened.

"Ok, notify the others. Jiraiya let's go." Jiraiya let go of his sake cup sullenly, feeling that this meeting would result in something bad. They poofed off into the night.

* * *

"Sakura! I heard that the recovery team was coming back! Let's hurry to the gate!" Ino yelled through her door. Sakura's eyes brightened. Had they brought her precious Sasuke-kun back?

"Ok! I'm heading downstairs!" She flew down the stairs to greet Ino.

"Let's go welcome Sasuke back." They both smiled and hurried towards the town gate.

 _Dong! Dong! Dong!_ The bell sounded three times to indicate a Konoha team was returning. Some townspeople stood there around the gate, but mostly it was ninjas that crowded the area.

"Halt!" A Konoha shinobi yelled. "Identify yourselves!"

A familiar voice rang out. "We are the recovery team coming back." Shikamaru's voice carried no emotion so nobody knew if it was a success or not.

"They've got to have him. Naruto promised me to get Sasuke back." Sakura whispered. Ino nodded furiously. Slowly, the gate creaked open. Everyone craned their necks to look into the darkness outside the gates. Slowly, the young ninjas started shuffling in. Akamaru, Kiba, Shikamaru, Naruto, Chouji, and finally Neji. _Where is Sasuke?_ Was everyone's first thought. Suddenly, all the members dropped onto their knees as soon as the gates closed and uttered the words no one dared dream of.

"Sasuke Recovery Mission. Failure."

* * *

There was a deathly silence among the crowd watching. The Hokage broke the silence by asking a question.

"What do you mean a failure?" Shikamaru looked up at her and she was scared at how old his eyes seemed.

"Hokage-sama. It means that we were unable to recover Sasuke Uchiha, and now he has left for Orochimaru." Some gasps sounded. How could the number one student from the academy leave for the Snake Sannin himself willingly? It must be the recovery team's fault.

"We're you guys so mean to him that he left?"

"Yea! He was always so nice! Was it because you guys were jealous of him and got him to do this?"

"Hey! Isn't Naruto in his team? It's got to be him that failed to convince Sasuke to come back."

* * *

Naruto looked around helplessly. Tears threaten to come out of his eyes but he kept looking among to sea of faces. Then his eyes met the one pair of eyes he didn't want to see. Sakura. She was crying and looked like she was about to explode.

"Why don't we.." The Hokage began but was cut off violently.

"You son of a bitch! Naruto you liar!" Sakura marched out pointing her finger at Naruto. He looked down at the ground.

"Look at me you liar. You said you would get Sasuke back but you didn't! You were always jealous of Sasuke-kun weren't you? You let him go to Orochimaru on purpose didn't you? Huh? Stop looking at the ground you demon!" She let loose the word demon lightly, but the older generation remembered. Inside this kid was sealed the Nine-Tailed Fox. He was a demon.

"I bet he did out spite, that demon boy." One villager yelled out. Others nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure the others tried their hardest but this demon kid probably let him go on purpose. Tchh. He was always a bad ninja anyways, who even let him wear that forehead protector?" Pretty soon, all the townspeople were grumbling in agreement.

Naruto was absolutely shocked. He was so tuned out he couldn't hear what Sakura was yelling at him, and what the angry mob behind her were yelling. He needed to get out of here now. Despite his heavy injuries, he lifted himself off and jumped away.

* * *

Nobody moved for a while. Then they proceed to ask if the other team members were okay and if they needed the hospital. They all nodded dumbly, not believing what just happened.

"I knew this was going to happen." Jiraiya spoke first as the townspeople escorted the young ninjas to medical care. Kakashi looked heartbroken. His Team 7 out of all teams was split the hardest. He prepared to chase after Naruto when Tsunade stopped him.

"We should let Naruto cool down for a bit. He usually isn't in the mood for hearing logical things after a scolding or failure." Kakashi nodded. _Yea, maybe Naruto just needs to cool down for a bit._

"But what Sakura did was totally unnecessary. I'm sure she threw out the word 'demon' carelessly, but that did invoke some memories in the older folks." Jiraiya and Kakashi nodded. It was obvious the fact that the boy had a demon sealed in him was freshly reminded.

"We should check out what the other team members think." With that, they went to the hospital.

* * *

Naruto couldn't hold his tears back as he got into his room. Sakura hated him. Everyone in the town hated him. Ba-chan, Pervy Hermit, hell not even Kakashi had spoken up for him. _I really fucking despise the people here._ He grimaced as his right arm started bleeding profusely again. _Dammit, I need medical help. Ha, probably no one would help me after that rant._ He took a cloth and wrapped it tightly around his entire right arm. _Maybe some ramen well help me process this,_ he thought as he wandered out onto the street towards Ichiraku Ramen Shop.

When he reached there, he was all smiles as he imagined the miso soup and noodles.

"Hey old man! Two bowls of ramen to start with please!" He glanced up from his seat as no one responded. The old man looked down at him harshly.

"Get out. We don't serve demons, boy." Naruto looked confused.

"What you never.."

"Get the hell out of here boy! Before I call the ANBU!" He stumbled out the street half crying. What was going on? Had word spread so fast? He ran blindly away from the shop, eventually tiring out and sat on the street. Naruto tried his best to save his friend, and now he was receiving so much hate? What the hell, it was Sasuke that left for Orochimaru, not him! As he sat there thinking, five ANBU members suddenly appeared.

"Are you Naruto Uzumaki?" He stood up, uncertain what was happening.

"Yes? Do you need something?" The five ANBUs jumped towards him in a swift motion, gagging him and tying his wrists with Chakra absorbing vines.

"You are arrested on account of one case of manslaughter."

* * *

Ayeee, you got to the end of that! Help me out by review this fic! Tell me what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, anything is appreciated! Thanks readers!

Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2 - Awakening

Hey guys! I'm back, updating in a day!

Just a quick thing, I already recieved flame on the first chapter (like seriously people). If you want to flame, feel free. Just remember to **flame when you are logged in.** Don't "Guest" me and give me shit.

 **Guest -** Thanks!

 **Darkness rises -** hey people change ok.. The narusaku will be later haha

I don't own Naruto.

On to the story!

* * *

Naruto has shoved down heavily into a small cell. In the middle of the cell lay a full body chair that had straps all over the place. The ANBU dragged him on the chair and tied him down. They had given him a chakra disabling shot, which would prevent him from using any jutsus.

"So murderer, anything to say for yourself?" Naruto looked blankly at the man.

"What the hell do you mean? What are you trying to arrest me for killing Sound ninja?" The man in the dog ANBU mask laughed.

"Very funny. You obviously killed Sasuke Uchiha because of your long standing rivalry. Your arm," he said, pointing to the bandaged arm, "is an injury you sustained while Sasuke bravely tried to fight back against you demon."

"Are you kidding? Sasuke overpowered me with that Cursed Seal and ran away to Orochimaru? I'm his best friend why would I try to kill him?" The man leaned forward.

"Stop telling us lies. Your longstanding hatred against Sasuke is famous. The fact that Sakura, your teammate and crush, likes Sasuke was another factor why you killed him. Tell me, where were your teammates while you 'battled' Sasuke?" Naruto glared at him.

"They were all knocked out by Sasuke's outburst of chakra." The five ANBU all laughed.

"More like your demon chakra boy."

"Ugh, who the hell are you guys, I'm sure Tsunade wouldn't authorize this."

"Hahahaha! Of course it was Tsunade, only the Hokage would be able to authorize your capture." The ANBU captain grinned under his mask. His leader told him to tell Naruto that Tsunade, someone close to him authorize his capture to break him. Naruto gaped at him. _No way ba-chan would... Right? Or.. or.. Does she think I'm a demon too? Oh my goodness..._ His tears suddenly burst out uncontrollably.

"Now we are done with our introductions, we shall start the torture." Naruto's head snapped up.

"Torture?"

"Yes boy, to make you confess killing Sasuke."

"No, no, no, no! AHHHHHHHHHHHH" His screams filled the tiny cell.

* * *

Had it been a hour? Or five days? Naruto had no idea. He blacked out after a while and woke up in a familiar place. It was inside a dark dungeon. Ferocious roars sounded at the end of the hallway. Naruto stood up and walked towards the sound as usual.

"Hey Kyuubi come out right now I need to talk." Naruto smacked at the bars.

" **Hello kit. You seem very agitated and angry."** Naruto gave a small laugh.

"No shit fox, I've come back from that damned mission and the townspeople call me out for shit. Then even fucking Tsunade called on the ANBU to torture me until I said I killed Sasuke. Which is dumb. Why do they care so much about Sasuke and not about anyone else?" The Kyuubi sighed.

" **Konoha is known for its ability to stick to old thoughts and tradition. No doubt they would have placed the blame on you, as you have me sealed. Bahh, if it was not for the Fourth Hokage, I would have laid waste to this godforsaken village."** Suddenly Naruto yelled out as a slash appeared on his chest.

"Shit, shit shit, they are going to kill me while I'm unconscious if this goes on. Kyuubi, I'm begging you, please release your chakra for me to beat this stupid hidden village into nothingness. I really hate this people with a passion now. Sakura, Tsunade, and the townspeople. Maybe not so much Jiraiya and Kakashi, but still. Ninety-nine percent of them hate me. I need to break out of here." The demon fox lowered his eyes to where Naruto was.

" **All of my chakra would still be too great for you. You would more or less burn up instantly if I gave you nine tails worth of chakra. But with your current stamina, I could probably give one tails worth of chakra but make a huge show out of it."** Naruto looked at the fox confused.

"Make a huge show of it?" The fox growled in anticipation.

" **Yes, I'm going to make a huge show out of it. Just let go control of your body."**

 **"** What? Hell no, are you trying to take over me? Hey Kyuubi? Kyuubi!" A wave of red chakra engulfed him, and for the hundredth time in the past hours, Naruto screamed.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, only to find that he was unable to move anything but his eyes.

" **It's time to move, kit."** He tried to move back as an ANBU member put his kunai extremely close to his stomach when his skin seemingly burst out in flames.

"What the hell? I thought you gave him that shot to disable his chakra!"

"I did! I don't know what's happening." Naruto heard his voice speak out in a much deeper and menacing voice.

" **You are fools trying to restrain me. Let me show you the true power of the Nine Tails."**

 **"** The boy is really a demon now! Kill him before.." The ANBU was unable to finish his sentence as a claw of chakra slashed his throat. All the straps were then promptly ripped out of their holders. Naruto felt his body lunge forward, grabbing two shocked ANBU and smacking them at high speeds into the third one. Then he ripped out their throats one by one.

" **You're the last one huh?"** Naruto saw the man trembling.

"Please... , please don't.." The man turned and started to run.

" **PATHETIC NINJAS!"** Naruto lunged forward and twisted the man around.

" **Trash like you should've never been born.** " He took a huge bite off the man's throat and was prepared to gag when he realized he like the taste.

"EWWW what the fuck Kyuubi, don't make me taste that!"

" **Sorry, just haven't taste man's sweet blood in quite a while. Time to make our grand escape and scare the living shit out of everyone."**

* * *

Sakura punched her pillow really hard. Tears were flowing down her face like waterfalls. _Sasuke-kun..._ She kept moaning in her mind about Sasuke when she suddenly remembered. _Naruto! Oh my gosh, I said so many bad things about him... I'm such an idiot! I'm such an idiot! I don't even know if he'll accept an apology..._ She sat up and made her decision. Sakura needed to ask the Hokage and Kakashi-sensei if they had any info from the injured mission members. She just stepped outside when she heard a huge explosion and was knocked off her feet.

* * *

"Jiraiya, maybe you should go check up on Naruto. Tell him that he is being promoted to Chunnin. That should cheer him up a little." The hermit nodded. Recognition was something Naruto always wanted.

"See ya Tsunade!" Jiraiya prepared to exit when a huge explosion knocked both of them on their feet.

"The fuck?" Tsunade jumped back up and looked out the window for a horrifying sight.

The Nine-Tailed Fox was back.

* * *

Dun dun dun! Ayeee, finished it? Great, I know it may seem short to some of you, but hey, I'll try to make them longer.

Review! What I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, anything (but flame) is appreciated! And if you absolutely have to flame, LOG IN.

Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3 - Rogue Kyuubi

Hey guys! I'll try to update everyday for this story now, thinking of plot everywhere I go...

 **sonsammy1 -** Ofc, I'm not letting that go too easily. hehehe

 **Lord Lovegood, Guest -** Thanks! I'll try!

 **SSBGogeta** \- You are right... except for the part about blaming Naruto. Sakura was doing it in the heat of the moment. Extreme fangirling. The villagers were simply reminded of the the horrible stories about the fox. And Naruto was pretty annoying when he was young. And now Sakura's not feeling great about saying that stuff, but the villagers don't feel sorry. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ that's my view

I don't own Naruto!

On to the story!

* * *

The huge red presence loomed over the city. Everyone could see clearly that it was the Nine-Tailed Fox, with its red chakra, pulsing off of the ethereal body. Most people who saw it was scared shitless. But, Tsunade wasn't anyone, she was the Hokage, so she had to take action.

"Will someone tell me what is going? Send three ANBU teams to investigate this!" In her heart, she was extremely worried. _Naruto... What is going on? Is that you?_ Jiraiya looked at the horrifying sight grimly.

"I'm afraid the seal might have been broken through. Let's go see if we can do anything. Worst case scenario, we'll have to use force to bring down Naruto." They nodded and shot off towards the giant demon fox.

* * *

Naruto suddenly felt his vision float high up into the sky.

 _Kyuubi? What is going on?_ A deep chuckle sounded.

 **I'm trying to leave an impression kit. Just sit back and watch.** With that, the ethereal fox started running towards the walls, crushing a couple of houses on the way. Rage started to build up inexplicably, combining Kyuubi's and his own rage towards Konoha. That made the chakra glow brighter, scaring the ANBU back.

"ANBU Team 3 looping in front. Position is secure, trap is set."

"ANBU Team 1, 2, 4, 5 , preparing to lure target. Over." Without notice, the fox they were chasing stopped suddenly. The radio crackled to life again.

"What is the hold up? Why did it turn around?" An ear-shattering roar suddenly smashed through the air. Windows broke, small trees were torn away from the ground and people were flung onto their backs. Two figures joined the ANBU teams.

"Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama. We have already set a trap to contain the fox. It will soon be led into it." They nodded and smiled sadly, if Naruto's seal was broken, he would need to be tied down with chakra absorbing ropes. Jiraiya walked towards the boy who was suspending in all of the chakra. Tsunade ran up.

"What do you think you are doing Jiraiya?"

"I'm going to speak to him. NARUTO!" Combined with a voice amplification jutsu, Jiraiya's voice carried across the city.

"I know you are in there. Don't give up the fight against Kyuubi! Stop letting him control your will! Come back!" The demon gave an unexpected reaction. Naruto/Kyuubi started laughing hard.

" **HAHAHAHA! Konoha, it has been quite a long time. You still haven't changed one bit I see. Arrogant and stubborn as always."** The ANBU looked taken aback. Naruto's mouth was moving, but the voice that came out was deep and demonic.

"Kyuubi! Is your purpose to destroy Konoha? What have you done to Naruto?" Again a chuckle sounded.

" **It is now our combined purpose to destroy this place. Based on what he has been telling me, this village has been treating him like shit."** Tsunade and Jiraiya's eyes bulged. How long had Naruto been conversing with the demon?

"How long have you been brainwashing Naruto?"

" **Do you intend to make jokes all day? We have been conversing like civilized people ever since you pushed us off that cliff, Jiraiya-sama."** _Shit, if they had been talking so much, then Kyuubi must've convinced Naruto to hate this place._

"Naruto! Don't listen to him! Please come back!" What came next shocked Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade ba-chan. It was my decision all along. Sorry, but I need to get out of here." A wave of fire flew towards them and everyone jumped out of the way to avoid it. The house they were on was demolished.

"The demon is moving!" Immediately, the ANBU team started to give chase again, but the fox became too fast.

"SHOOT OUT THE HARPOONS! SHOOT OUT THE ROPE!" The ANBU captain screamed into the radio. They saw in the distance that the ethereal fox form had been struck by some rope.

"Yes... WHAT?!" The rope promptly burnt right off and they watched as the Kyuubi form jump over the walls easily before disappearing all together.

"How... how.. How did it get pass that trap?" Jiraiya looked down at the ground.

"Your chakra absorbing ropes probably did absorb some chakra. But that Nine-Tailed fox's chakra is beyond your imagination. So basically the fox chakra overloaded your ropes, so they burned up." The ANBU stood silent thinking. Those ropes had held the most dangerous of criminals with high natural chakra with ease, yet the demon... was on a whole different level.

"We are going back to my office to plan out a capture plan. Have Team 3 go and scout and follow Naruto. Do not take any action until I say so. Let's go!"

* * *

Two figures stood on a tree some distance from Konoha. They had seen the entire spectacle of Kyuubi reemerging in chakra form.

"Damn, I never thought that kid would join us."

"It is quite obvious he is influenced by the demon in him. We have quite a lot of tails now. We can finally move forward with our plan."

"Ok smarty pants, as always, you called it."

"Tch."

* * *

Naruto ran and ran. He hated Konoha. It was obvious Jiraiya and Tsunade still cared for him, but that was probably it. Maybe Kakashi. But in a town of that many, hate towards him was still a majority. _Hopefully they are really at that spot they told me to go too... If they aren't there or worse, if I remembered the wrong spot, I would be in a very bad situation._ Naruto kept slapping away the foliage that was in front of him. A large white pine stood in the middle of a circle of smaller trees. Two figures stood below the overhanging branches. _Is it them? YES, I got the spot correct!_ He leapt down and landed lightly in front of the two cloaked people.

"Hello? Are you guys the Akatsuki?" The cloaked members nearly fell over. What ninja in the right mind would walk up and say that? They even gave him a passcode question for that purpose.

"Yes you donk. Look at me." Naruto looked up and saw two pairs of eyes. White eyes and red Sharingan eyes.

"HEY! I know you two! You were back at the hotel weren't you."

"Yes. We obviously are on the same sides now, so the situation is different. But yes. We are the same people. Guess who?"

* * *

Ayee, you reached the end again. If it seems a bit forced in some parts, gotta say I'm sorry. Trying to churn these out everyday. I'll try to edit these to make better sense (not completely changing the story or anything) but to make the quality better. Also, excuse me for the shorter chapter, I'll try to make em longer as we go!

Thanks and please review! What I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, anything is appreciated!

Until next time!


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